August 2022

In This Issue:

CPFP Staff Comings and Goings

Lisa B. Signorello, Sc.D., Sc.M. After serving the NCI for nearly 8 years, Dr. Lisa Signorello has left her position as Director of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program and begun a new position at a private firm. Dr. Phil Castle will be the program’s new Acting Branch Chief and Dr. Lymarie Maldonado-Baez will serve as the Interim Director.

The CPFP welcomes our new staff, Beza Solomon who comes to us as part of the Pathways Intern Program. Beza is a University of Maryland student majoring in Finance. She will be assisting CPFP with tasks related to travel and our CPFP website.

CPFP Welcomes New Fellows

First Year Fellows

Rachelle Brick, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., OTR/L

Hawa Camara, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Kathryn Kundrod, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Kyra Mendez, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Jacob Rohde, Ph.D., M.A., M.P.H.

M.P.H. Fellows

Michael Daniels, Ph.D., R.D., M.S.

Audrey Goldbaum, Ph.D.

Jacqueline Hua, Ph.D., M.A.

Natalie Joe, Ph.D.

Rebecca Kelly, Ph.D.

Lindsey Page, Ph.D., M.S.

Jonathan Wooten, Ph.D., M.S.

CPFP Recent Presentations

Costa Rica Cancer Symposium

On June 23, 2022, Cancer Prevention Fellow, Dr. Percy Guzman organized and moderated a cancer symposium on the challenges in cancer research in collaboration with the University of Costa Rica, NCI stakeholders, and the Costa Rica Social Security Fund (CCSS). The symposium was held in person at the University of Costa Rica and offered a virtual attendance option which garnered over 200 attendees. Cancer Prevention Fellows Drs. Esmeralda Ramirez-Peña and Loretto Carvajal served as panelists.

Global Health Equity Panel

In commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day, Cancer Prevention Fellows Drs. Margarita Correa-Mendez and Percy Guzman and CPFP alum Dr. Waruiru Mburu organized a Global Health Equity Panel as part of the NCI’s Global Health Interest Group. Panelists Dr. Arachu Castro, Dr. Evelyn Gitau, Dr. Ravi Kannan and Dr. Laetitia Rispel and GHIG fellow moderators, facilitated a discussion on actions that the broader public health community can take to enhance equity and justice in global health research and practice.

AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting 2022

Cancer Prevention Fellows Manami Bhattacharya, Ph.D., M.S. and Jennifer McGee-Avila, Ph.D., M.P.H. and former CPF Courtney Williams, Dr.P.h., M.P.H. presented posters at the 2022 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Washington DC.

Society for Epidemiologic Research Annual Meeting 2022

Former Cancer Prevention fellows Jessica Gorzelitz, Ph.D., M.S. and Waruiru Mburu, Ph.D., M.P.H. presented posters at the Society for Epidemiologic Research 2022 Annual Meeting.

Awards

Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE)

Cancer Prevention Fellows Brittany Lord, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H. and Jacqueline B. Vo, Ph.D., R.N., M.P.H. and former Cancer Prevention Fellow Wayne Lawrence, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. are winners of the Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) 2023 competition. Each of their abstracts were deemed outstanding based on scientific merit, originality, experimental design and overall quality and presentation.

Trans-Fellowship Research Award

The Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program recognized former Cancer Prevention Fellows Alexandra Harris, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., Wayne Lawrence, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., Brittany Lord, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H. as the 2022 Trans-Fellowship Research Award winners for their project, “The impact of neighborhood environment on breast tissue inflammation in a diverse cohort of women with and without breast cancer.”

CPFP Merit Awards

The Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program recognized former Cancer Prevention Fellow Wayne Lawrence, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., Brittany Lord, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H., Heather Platter, Ph.D., M.S. as 2022 Merit Award winners for their outstanding commitment to cancer prevention research.

Eddie Méndez Award

Brittany Lord, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H. was awarded the 2022 Fred Hutchinson Dr. Eddie Méndez Award

Student and Early Achiever Award

Former Cancer Prevention Fellow Maeve Bailey-Whyte, Ph.D., M.P.H. won a competitive Student and Early Career Investigator Scholarship for the AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.

Recent Fellow Publications

Manami Bhattacharya, Ph.D., M.S. Smoking reduction among homeless smokers in a randomized controlled trial targeting cessation Read Article

Rachelle Brick, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., OTR/L Development of an intervention influencing activity limitations in older breast cancer survivors: A modified Delphi study Read Article

Courtney Dill, Ph.D., M.S.C.R, M.S. Multivariant Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Modules and Hub Genes Associated with Poor Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Patients Read Article

Kate Elfer, Ph.D., M.P.H. Development of Training Materials for Pathologists to Provide Machine Learning Validation Data of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Breast Cancer Read Article

Former Cancer Prevention Fellow Zeinab Farhat, Ph.D., M.P.H. A prospective investigation of serum bile acids with risk of liver cancer, fatal liver disease, and biliary tract cancer Read Article

Former Cancer Prevention Fellow Jessica Gorzelitz, Ph.D., M.S. Program Barriers and Facilitators in Virtual Cancer Exercise Implementation: A Qualitative Analysis Read Article

The independent and joint associations of weightlifting and aerobic activity with all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial

Former Cancer Prevention Fellow Wayne Lawrence, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. Trends in Cancer Mortality Among Black Individuals in the US From 1999 to 2019 Read Article

Former Cancer Prevention Fellow Ariella Korn, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H. Collaboration networks of the implementation science centers for cancer control: a social network analysis Read Article

Kyra Mendez, Ph.D., M.P.H. A Descriptive Analysis of Cancer Screening Health Literacy Among Black Women Living with HIV in Baltimore, Maryland Read Article

Kathryn Heley, Ph.D., M.P.H. Missing the Bigger Picture: The Need for More Research on Visual Health Misinformation. Science Communication Read Article

Fellows in the News

Cancer Prevention Fellow Jennifer Bowers, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.A. was featured in a Washington Post article, “Why your sunscreen isn’t working.” Her expertise in unintentional tanning in college students offers insight into why people may be underusing sun protection. Read Article

Fellows on the Move

Peter DelNero, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Research Scientist at the University of Arkansas Cancer Center

Zeinab Farhat, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Senior Manager, Gastroenterology Global Outcomes Research department, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

Jessica Gorzelitz, Ph.D., M.S.
Assistant Professor of Health Promotion at the University of Iowa within the Department of Health and Human Physiology

Wayne Lawrence, Dr.P.H., M.P.H.
Research Fellow at Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG)in the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch (MEB)

Holli A. Loomans-Kropp, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Tenure-track faculty at Ohio State

Courtney Williams, Dr.P.H., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine

Holli A. Loomans-Kropp, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Tenure-track faculty at Ohio State

CPFP News